[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 15 (Wednesday, January 24, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 3135-3136]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-826]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[FRL-8271-9; Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-ORD-2006-0868]
Metabolically-Derived Human Ventilation Rates: A Revised Approach
Based Upon Oxygen Consumption Rates
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice of public comment period.
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SUMMARY: EPA is announcing a 30-day public comment period for the draft
document titled, ``Metabolically-Derived Human Ventilation Rates: A
Revised Approach Based Upon Oxygen Consumption Rates'' (EPA/600/R-06/
129A). The document was prepared by the National Center for
Environmental Assessment (NCEA) within EPA's Office of Research and
Development (ORD).
In 1997, NCEA published the Exposure Factors Handbook. This
comprehensive document provides summaries of available statistical data
on various factors that can impact an individual's exposure to
environmental contaminants. NCEA maintains the Exposure Factors
Handbook and periodically updates the document using current literature
and other reliable data made available through research. Many program
offices within EPA rely on the data from this handbook to conduct their
exposure and risk assessments.
One important determinant of a person's exposure to contaminants in
air is the ventilation rate, or the volume of air that is inhaled by an
individual in a specified time period. Ventilation rates, also known as
breathing or inhalation rates, are given in Chapter 5 of the Exposure
Factors Handbook. Calculations of the currently recommended ventilation
rates were limited by their dependence on a ``ventilatory equivalent,''
which relied on a person's fitness level. This draft report,
``Metabolically-Derived Human Ventilation Rates: A Revised Approach
Based Upon Oxygen Consumption Rates,'' presents a revised approach that
calculates ventilation rates directly from an individual's oxygen
consumption rate, and applies this method to data provided from more
recent sources, such as the 1999-2002 National Health and Nutrition
Examination Survey (NHANES) and EPA's Consolidated Human Activity
Database (CHAD). In the next edition of the Exposure Factors Handbook,
NCEA would like to update the ventilation rate values using this
revised approach and the more recently released data.
EPA is releasing the draft, ``Metabolically-Derived Human
Ventilation Rates: A Revised Approach Based Upon Oxygen Consumption
Rates,'' solely for the purpose of pre-dissemination peer review under
applicable information quality guidelines. This document has not been
formally disseminated by EPA. It does not represent and should not be
construed to represent any Agency policy or determination. EPA will
consider any public comments submitted in accordance with this notice
when revising the document.
DATES: The 30-day public comment period begins January 24, 2007, and
ends February 23, 2007. Technical comments should be in writing and
must be received by EPA by February 23, 2007. In a subsequent Federal
Register notice EPA will announce the details of an external peer
review meeting that will be conducted via teleconference.
ADDRESSES: The draft, ``Metabolically-Derived Human Ventilation Rates:
A Revised Approach Based Upon Oxygen Consumption Rates,'' is available
primarily via the Internet on the National Center for Environmental
Assessment's home page under the Recent Additions and the Data and
Publications menus at http://www.epa.gov/ncea. A limited number of
paper copies are available from the Technical Information Staff, NCEA-
W; telephone: 202-564-3261; facsimile: 202-565-0050. If you are
requesting a paper copy, please provide your name, your mailing
address, and the document title, ``Metabolically-Derived Human
Ventilation Rates: A Revised Approach Based Upon Oxygen Consumption
Rates'' (EPA/600/R-06/129A).
Comments may be submitted electronically via www.regulations.gov,
by mail, by facsimile, or by hand delivery/courier. Please follow the
detailed instructions provided in the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section
of this notice.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For information on the public comment
period, contact the Office of Environmental Information Docket;
telephone: 202-566-1752; facsimile: 202-566-1753; or e-mail:
[email protected].
For technical information, contact Laurie Schuda, NCEA; telephone:
202-564-3206; facsimile: 202-564-2018; or e-mail:
[email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
How To Submit Technical Comments to the Docket at www.regulations.gov
Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-ORD 2006-
0868 by one of the following methods:
www.regulations.gov: Follow the on-line instructions for
submitting comments.
E-mail: [email protected].
Fax: 202-566-1753.
Mail: Office of Environmental Information (OEI) Docket
(Mail Code: 2822T), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 1200
Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460. The phone number is 202-
566-1752.
Hand Delivery: The OEI Docket is located in the EPA
Headquarters Docket Center, Room 3334, EPA West Building, 1301
Constitution Ave., NW., Washington, DC. The EPA Docket Center Public
Reading Room is open from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through
Friday, excluding legal holidays. The telephone number for the Public
Reading Room is 202-566-1744. Such deliveries are only accepted during
the docket's normal hours of operation, and special arrangements should
be made for deliveries of boxed information.
If you provide comments by mail or hand delivery, please submit one
unbound original with pages numbered consecutively, and three copies of
the comments. For attachments, provide an
[[Page 3136]]
index, number pages consecutively with the comments, and submit an
unbound original and three copies.
Instructions: Direct your comments to Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-ORD-
2006-0868. Please ensure that your comments are submitted within the
specified comment period. Comments received after the closing date will
be marked ``late,'' and may only be considered if time permits. It is
EPA's policy to include all comments it receives in the public docket
without change and to make the comments available online at
www.regulations.gov, including any personal information provided,
unless a comment includes information claimed to be Confidential
Business Information (CBI) or other information whose disclosure is
restricted by statute. Do not submit information that you consider to
be CBI or otherwise protected through www.regulations.gov or e-mail.
The www.regulations.gov Web site is an ``anonymous access'' system,
which means EPA will not know your identity or contact information
unless you provide it in the body of your comment. If you send an e-
mail comment directly to EPA without going through www.regulations.gov,
your e-mail address will be automatically captured and included as part
of the comment that is placed in the public docket and made available
on the Internet. If you submit an electronic comment, EPA recommends
that you include your name and other contact information in the body of
your comment and with any disk or CD-ROM you submit. If EPA cannot read
your comment due to technical difficulties and cannot contact you for
clarification, EPA may not be able to consider your comment. Electronic
files should avoid the use of special characters, any form of
encryption, and be free of any defects or viruses. For additional
information about EPA's public docket visit the EPA Docket Center
homepage at http://www.epa.gov/epahome/dockets.htm.
Docket: Documents in the docket are listed in the
www.regulations.gov index. Although listed in the index, some
information is not publicly available, e.g., CBI or other information
whose disclosure is restricted by statute. Certain other materials,
such as copyrighted material, are publicly available only in hard copy.
Publicly available docket materials are available either electronically
in www.regulations.gov or in hard copy at the OEI Docket in the EPA
Headquarters Docket Center.
Dated: January 12, 2007.
George Alapas,
Acting Director, National Center for Environmental Assessment.
[FR Doc. E7-826 Filed 1-23-07; 8:45 am]
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